How to Get Hired as a Recent Grad

Graduation season has arrived in the U.S. with over a million people earning their college degrees and gearing up to enter the workforce. Many of them will be entering the world of work for the first time. If you fall into this bucket, you might feel a little overwhelmed right now.

To help make the move easier, LinkedIn News Editor Andrew Seaman is talking with Sho Dewan , a career coach and founder/CEO of Workhap . Sho shares advice for recent graduates as they venture into the workforce. They dive into strategies for making a lasting impression, setting ambitious career goals, and charting a path towards long-term success.

A transcript of the conversation is below. You can listen to the episode above or on Apple Podcasts by clicking here.

TRANSCRIPT: How to Get Hired as a Recent Grad

Andrew Seaman: It's mid-May right now, which means graduation season is upon us. Across the U.S. over a million young adults are graduating from college and gearing up to enter the workforce, many of them for the first time. If you are a recent grad, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Even if you have a job lined up, you might be wondering how to make the right impression on your first day or how to set yourself up for a promotion a year from now. If you don't have a job, you might be feeling some pressure to find one or at least figure out what kind of career you'd like to have. We're getting into all of that on today's show.

From LinkedIn News, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs and the ever-changing landscape of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn senior managing editor for jobs and career development, bringing new conversations with experts who, like me, want to see you succeed at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Sho Dewan is a career coach, content creator, and founder and CEO of Workhap. That's a combination of the words work and happy. You may have seen Sho's videos for Workhap on TikTok or Instagram where he shares really specific career advice on everything from negotiating your salary to landing a job overseas. A lot of his videos are for people who are just getting started in their careers, so he's the perfect person to talk about preparing for and excelling in your first professional experience after college. Here's Sho.

Sho Dewan: There is no one right way to do things. If you see me on Instagram or you see other career coaches on Instagram or Facebook or on social media, there's always these videos saying, "This is the guaranteed way of getting success. This is the one right way of you landing the interview." And I'm also guilty of this too. I'm also guilty of making some, quote, unquote, "clickbaity titles" to hook people into the content. But this is what people need to realize about social media and the real world. Sometimes what you see is not exactly 100% going to apply to your situation. You can do everything right. You could follow every single strategy and method in the book, and it still might not go your way. That's just the reality of the job search, of your career, of life in general. That's something that's a little bit of a harder lesson to learn as a fresh grad because you're new to this, but that's something that you'll learn as you move forward.

Andrew Seaman: For career starters, what do you think is the most important thing that they can do to kick off their professional lives on a good foot?

Sho Dewan: That's a good question. Putting myself back in my 22-year-old shoes after I graduated college and got my first big-boy job, one thought of mine that I have was like, "Maybe I overprepared." And then also another thought was like, "Maybe I didn't prepare enough." So when I started my career, I started working in EY in consulting, and this is New York. But I remember coming to the office and I was like, "Man, I am underdressed." I was wearing a button-up, but it was untucked. I was wearing slacks and I was wearing semiformal shoes, and I was like, "Man, you can tell I'm a kid here." But looking back at that time, I probably wouldn't change too much if I'm honest. I probably wouldn't change too much. I think there's a lot of kids these days that are so gung-ho about their career and so motivated towards their goals, which I love.

I love people going after their big goals, but sometimes it's okay to also just be a 20-year-old and have a nice last summer with your friends. If there is some professional stuff that would maybe set you apart, potentially talk to some people already before joining your firm. I remember my first few weeks, the firm would already set up coffee chats and networking calls and things like that, which was nice. But if you're going to maybe a smaller company or you're going to a company that you don't know anybody, it might be nice to reach out on LinkedIn. Just say, hey, I'm joining the firm. I see you've been there for two years. I see that you've been on some cool projects. Are you down for a coffee before I start? Are you free for a coffee chat later this week?

And whatever their answer is, whatever the reply is, just go with the flow. No one owes us anything. Don't take anything personal and just building those connections before starting the firm, I think it would be a nice touch. But like I said, if you're graduating and you've got a great job offer already, enjoy it, celebrate it, be with your family and friends because you and I know this man, when you're working and then you're doing the nine-to-five and the 40-hour grind, you'll sometimes wish you could go back in time and be a student again, be a kid again. So just cherish those times when you can still do that.

Andrew Seaman: Yeah, I like that advice because I don't think enough people think about doing anything like just reaching out beforehand because there's nothing stopping you from doing that. And I also want to go back to something else you said earlier, which is basically people sometimes they just need to enjoy being a 20-year-old, but taking a step back, I think especially now because the job market is definitely more competitive than it has been in the past two or three years. What is your advice for people who are graduating and maybe don't have a job lined up? What should they be doing to set themselves up to find something, not quickly, but within a year or so?

Sho Dewan: Yeah, I hear you. With June right around the corner, graduation season is coming. So this is kind of the awkward time when do you focus on doing really well in your final test and graduating with honors and all the things that you want, or is this the time that you go all in and really try to get that job offer secured before you graduate? There's two schools of thought here. I have always gravitated towards line up for your future now. So yes, while academics is important, while the tests are important, while the essays and assignments they're important, I would argue that your career is more important than your studies right now. So if possible, try to juggle both. Don't go 100% studies and 0% career. Try to juggle both. Maybe 50-50, maybe 60-40, depending on what your priorities are. But if it's May right now and you've already applied and you've had some interviews but haven't had your luck, do the other things that might set you up.

We talked about a strategy of networking with people that you're going to be joining the firm with. You can also do that for the companies and the opportunities that you haven't yet joined. If there's a really cool role that you see at a growing startup, try to get a coffee chat with a manager, try to get a phone call in with a past intern. All of these little connections can add up and open doors for you that you might've not ever had before. So that's what I would recommend to the students and the recent grads who are kind of looking for that first start is focusing on the connections first if possible. The methods that are taught is have a resume, spam it, and apply to as many place as you can. But as we've learned throughout the years, it's just not an effective strategy. You want to be tailored, you want to be strategic in how you use your time, and it's often the people you know, the people who know you, who are going to open these doors for you.

Andrew Seaman: And I assume especially for students and even after they graduate, if it's June, July, even August and you don't have a job yet, look back on the people you met during your coursework. So you probably have guest speakers and things like that, and those are sort of the proverbial low-hanging fruit where you can say, hey, you spoke at my economics class, or you spoke in my intro to accounting. And you could say, would you have time for a quick coffee chat or things like that. So if you're worried about reaching out cold to managers at a different company or something, you could start there.

Sho Dewan: That is a wonderful suggestion. What I would love to tell every 22-year-old or 20-year-old in the world, when you're young, people want to meet you, people want to help you because they see a little bit of themselves in you. And even when I was a student in a recent grad, I remember my hit rate in terms of me reaching out to somebody and them responding was so much higher than it is now as you get older and as you get a little bit more tenured in your career. I think a lot of students think like, "Oh, well, why would anyone give me the time of day? I'm young. I don't have experience. I don't have what they're looking for." What you have is what they don't. You have the spark, you have the youth, you have the enthusiasm, and people want to help ambitious young, good people. That's just what it comes down to.

So not everyone will respond, and not everyone will say yeah, let's do that coffee date, or let's go for lunch. Not everyone's going to do that, but you'll be surprised at how many people say yes. But it's on you to make the ask and not just make the ask, but make the ask and tailor your approach to them. If you see somebody in your econ class who's really cool, really impressive, don't just say, hey, I want to get a coffee chat and learn more. Say, I saw your career and you've done X, Y, Z things. I actually would love to do Y. And that's something that I've really been interested in and have passion in.

I saw that you did this and wrote this article and the speech that you gave was wonderful. If you have 10, 15 minutes, I would love to just have a quick chat. Can I buy you a Starbucks? Let's meet next week if you're free. But you see how it's a little bit more personalized, you're now reading their story and then you make the ask in a genuine interested way. If they say, no, that's okay, you can move it on to the next person. But that's what I reckon for most people, but especially if you're in your twenties.

Andrew Seaman: And I think there's also a lot of people who they realize maybe they've gone to college because that was the expectation and maybe they're graduating. They say, I don't know if I want to go into this field, or I don't know if the jobs out there are anything that actually speak to me and what I want to be doing. So if people graduate and they feel a little bit lost, what do you suggest they do? I think more often than not, people are in that situation.

Sho Dewan: What I don't recommend. Let's start off with I don't recommend. Please don't go back to school again for another degree. I see this all the time when let's say someone graduates with a biology degree and they go back to the same school or a different school and they re-up for another bachelor's in a different degree. That's oftentimes not the answer. More education. Again, education is great, college is wonderful, but getting education just to get education is probably not the right strategy. If you finish school, you don't know what to do with your degree, you're a little lost, this is the time to try out literally anything that sparks your interest, that sparks some joy in you. It doesn't even have to make you money right now. It could be new hobbies, it could be meeting new people, it could be going to different events. It could be you trying out some free courses, some free classes on YouTube or online, LinkedIn Learning.

This is just a great place for you to learn new skills and see what sticks. See what sticks. An analogy that I like to say is imagine you are at an all-you-can-eat buffet. You got this nice warm plate and there's so many different selections in front of you. This is what I want you to do. Taste a little bit of everything. And when you find that dish you like, then go seconds, go thirds in that dish. But when you're fresh, you can't cut off the different types of food that you've never heard of. You got to try a little bit of everything. That's what I would recommend to everybody who's lost. Even if you're not a fresh grad, this applies to everyone. If you're listening to this in your thirties, forties, fifties, it's never too late, my friend. You can still try. Go for seconds when you find that dish that you really like.

Andrew Seaman: We'll be right back with Sho Dewan.

Andrew Seaman: And we're back with Sho Dewan, founder and CEO of Workhap. You mentioned sort of a tailored approach to applying for jobs, and I think a lot of people, they're romanticized by the idea that they can skip the whole process, and there are people who maybe they have an inside track or they've been recruited in their senior year or something, but for most people, they are going to have to apply at some point. So when you're going through that process, what do you suggest people do to stand out and kind of get an increased chance of getting an interview with a recruiter and hiring manager?

Sho Dewan:One of the things is knowing what the recruiter is going to be looking for even before you apply. The method that we talked about before is doing the whole spray and pray, having one resume, and applying to 200, 300, 500 different roles, all with that same resume. Now you're just throwing whatever and seeing what sticks. That's probably not going to work. What you can do instead is get into the recruiter's shoes, read the job description, understand what they're looking for, maybe even do some digging on the company and their history and what's been going on. Once you can understand what they're missing, you can be the missing piece that they're looking for. So if they're looking for somebody who has experience in paid media, in data analytics, in search engine optimization, it would be in your best interest to highlight that as much as you can. So when a recruiter does see your resume and they give you that 6 to 10 seconds to scan it, they see those keywords, already in their head, it's a bingo, bingo.

Will that guarantee you get an interview every single time? Of course not. But you are giving yourself a better shot of them seeing green. And when they see green, you have a better chance of them picking up the phone and saying, hey Andrew, we saw your resume. We think you'd be a good fit for this paid media associate role. Are you free for a chat next week? So that's just one of many strategies that I would recommend. There's others. You could reach out to hiring managers, write a killer cover letter. I know there's some disdain towards cover letter these days, which I get, which I get. It's a lot of work to write one. But hey, if you write a killer cover letter that's perfectly tailored and really good writing, I'm going to read that. That's going to give you a shot. Anything you can do that's extraordinary, that's going to increase your chances of standing out. Just think of that, my friend.

Are you doing the same thing that everyone else is doing? If the answer is yes, no wonder you're getting the same results as everybody else. But if you're doing the extra 1%, if you're being part of that minority who's going the extra mile. And then some people might say like, "But Sho, what is that?" You will feel it. You'll feel it, right? If you're just on LinkedIn all day and just hitting easy apply, easy apply, easy apply. And just think to yourself, can everyone else be doing this? The answer is yes. But instead, if you're doing a little bit more digging and finding who the hiring manager is and understanding their career history, if you can do that digging, do you think everyone else will be doing that? Probably not. Whenever you can hear that probably not that no one else is doing this. That's what I want you to lean into more.

Andrew Seaman: Yeah. Another question I have for you, obviously resumes are still important, you're going to have to submit one at some point in the hiring process. And I think human skills, those soft skills, are more important than ever. Especially as AI grows, we're seeing a huge interest from employers, let's say... Obviously, the AI can do a lot of the monotonous work now, or we're training it to do that work. So we need people who can actually be people. So when you have maybe some vague soft skills and they're important skills, but if you just put communications on your resume, for example, that's so vague. A person might go, okay, yeah, everyone can communicate. How do you actually get across that you are a good communicator or that you are a good leader? How do you make that happen in your resume or application packet?

Sho Dewan: That's a really great question, Andrew. So many candidates struggle with this. You already outlined what you want to avoid, and that's just listing out these qualities and just expecting people to take it at face value. It's not going to work because everyone can write that they're a good communicator. It sometimes really comes down to the actual bullet points and the actual sentences that you're writing. Recruiters are reading resumes all day long. That's their nature of their job. They're recruiting dozens if not hundreds of resumes every single week. I was a recruiter, I've been there. And when you read a resume and you could tell somebody put real thought and real effort into their responses that will help you stand out, that really will. So instead of writing I'm a strong communicator, talk about how you onboarded new employees and the NPS score you got after your training.

Instead of just telling people I'm a good communicator, you are showing them. Here are the receipts, here's the proof. If you can talk about it and write at the bullet points, and better yet include some metrics to really put the stamp of approval there, that's what's going to get you noticed. And to mention AI, AI is a great start, really great start, but recruiters weren't born yesterday, man. Recruiters also now know an AI resume from somebody who's actually writing their resumes. And having a purely written AI resume will not get you an interview. It won't. So yes, it's a good idea to have ChatGPT or AI be the first pass. It's still got to be a human, it's got to be aka you to vet it, tweak it, customize it, tailor it, put effort into it, that's what's going to get you hired.

Andrew Seaman: Yeah. I really like that advice. And something else I wanted to ask you about, and you're obviously the perfect person because you're a social media superstar. What about sort of career starters and social media? Because everyone kind of wants to be a creator, it seems, and I think sort of the future of the creator economy, they are people like you who they're not creators for the sake of being creators, they're creators because they have a specific message for their industry or their specialty. So you have doctors who are creators, you have lawyers who are creators. How do you suggest, especially people who are just starting their careers and make sure their social media works for them and doesn't necessarily hurt them?

Sho Dewan: You are so spot on, man, and I'm seeing this trend happening as well. People want to be creators. People want to get paid in social media. It's fun, it's addicting, it's hard to put down. So I can see the appeal of why people want to be full-time creators. To answer your question, there's been very few rare cases where someone having a really strong social media profile help them get a job. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that might be the hot take of this episode. I don't think you having followers and social media clout is going to help you get a job. If anything, it's more likely for you to be looked upon as a threat to leave the company or as somebody who's not as serious about the job. That's unfortunate. I don't agree with that, but that's just what I've been seeing.

So if you want to have a career in social media, do that. If you want to have a career in content creation. If that's your dream job and you always want to be a content creator and a vlogger and YouTuber, I would love that for you. Go for it. But don't expect you having a YouTube channel or an IG channel or a lot of followers to be the reason why you get the job. Unless you're going for a social media job, unless you're going for a marketing analyst role, yes, that experience helps. But for 99% of people, being a social media star is not going to help you get that.

Andrew Seaman: Yeah. And obviously, it's something that recruiters during a background check will be checked actually. So you don't want to scare people, but you also have to be like, listen, they're going to look at your social media. So you have to be prepared for that, right?

Sho Dewan: Absolutely. Absolutely. You don't want to scare people. You're spot on. But humans are humans and humans are nosy. Humans like to research. Let's just put it at that. So if you have something on your socials, if you have something on your online history, chances are they're probably going to see it while you're in the interview process.

Andrew Seaman: Obviously, we're talking about people who are just sort of starting their careers, but then there are people who started their careers within the past year or two. So maybe they graduated last year or maybe a couple of years ago, and they're sort of saying like, "Hey, we still need help." And if you are someone who's maybe one or two years into your career and you're like, "Do I go for a promotion? I'm still the new person, kind of, but I'm feeling more established." What is your advice for those people?

Sho Dewan:

Great question here. I see a lot of people, young people in that kind of awkward phase. They have some experience but not enough to be a manager, and they're far enough to not be a recent grad anymore. They're in that limbo spot. If you are in a role right now and you've been there for a year and two years, you're already doing great. You're already winning. So I know you're thinking about the promotion. I know you're thinking about, well, I want to be seen as higher than the recent grad. You are already in it. You already have experience. You're doing great. Keep it up. Keep it up and this is just the natural flow of someone's career. You're going to feel like you don't know anything until maybe a few years in. A lot of us still don't know what we're doing. I've been doing this 10 years. I still sometimes don't don't know what I'm doing, man, I'm winging this. So don't think that it's just you, it's everybody. Everyone's just trying to figure it out.

For the people who are one to two years of their experience and don't have a role and haven't had a role, that's when it does get a little trickier. Because if they have a choice between a recent grad with zero experience versus a grad who's been graduated for two years with no experience, 9 out of 10 times they're going to go with the recent grad. It's not fair. It's not logical, but that's just where the brain goes because that's typically how corporates hire. So if you're in that one to two-year limbo mark without experience, you can't position yourself as a recent grad because you're not a recent grad. Instead, you have to really dig deep and think, what have I been doing in the one to two years?

Have you been volunteering at a church? Did you try to start your own marketing agency? Did you help out your friend with their startup idea? Those are still great experiences, and those are things you got to put into your resume. So you have to position yourself as somebody who is fresh and new and open to learn, but with the more robust skill set than a fresh grad would have. That's what's going to get you hired over someone like that. So all is not lost, you're still okay, but you do have to think about your job search and your candidacy little differently than a fresh grad would.

Andrew Seaman: Last question is, for people who are listening to this and getting ready to graduate, or maybe they're finding this after graduation, what is the one thing that you would suggest they do either today or tomorrow to really put them on a path towards success in their job search or the early part of their career?

Sho Dewan: I love that you're asking this question. And I'll tell a story about myself first, and I'll tie it back into what I would tell everybody who is maybe a little lost and trying to figure out what they want to do. My ideal day is probably me just shooting content. This is just the stuff I love. I'm a yapper, man. If you turn my camera on, I'm going to yap. I'm going to talk. And I like it. I like having my platform and I like sharing my stuff. Today on my calendar, all I had was shoot content for four hours. I was like, "Man, this is going to be the best day ever. I'm just going to shoot da-da-da." But when I opened up my day, I realized I was talking about topics that I didn't really want to talk about. So I had a task that I loved, which is content, but a topic that didn't really align with me.

It was like, "It's kind of feel forced." And I was like, "Okay, I have to do this because it's for a brand, and yeah, I want to make them happy and I'll do it." And a day that was supposed to be so great and energy-filled, and all that stuff, I was drained by lunchtime. I was like, "Man, I don't want to do this anymore." So that's what I would tell to everybody who's listening to this right now. To have a career that you really love, you got to find those two things, my friend. One, a task that you really like. What's the work that you really like? If you're a data guy, you probably really like Excel. If you're a marketing guy or a marketing gal, you probably really like social media trends. Whatever that work is, you got to find that first, really find that work.

But the second part, which might be even harder, is find the topic that you like. So if you're that data guy who likes Excel and you love insurance, maybe that's your thing. You're the data guy in insurance. But if you're a data guy in insurance, but you're working in retail, that might not be the best fit for you. Same thing for me. I was talking about a topic that I didn't like. If I was talking about job search and careers and resume, I'd be having a blast for four hours. So find those two things, my friend. Find the task that you like, that really energizes you, but also find the topic, the subject area that you like. Once you have those two, work doesn't really feel like work anymore. That's what I would recommend.

Andrew Seaman: Amazing. Well, I think that's a great piece of advice to end on. Thank you so much, Sho.

Sho Dewan: Thank you, Andrew. So good to see you, my friend.

Andrew Seaman: That was Sho Dewan founder and CEO of Workhap. If you're leaving today's conversation with a new learning to apply to your job search or career, I'd like to invite you to write about it in a review on Apple Podcasts. Our team really enjoys reading what you learn from our shows, plus it helps other people discover our community. Speaking of community, remember that we're always here, backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me, Andrew Seaman, and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. In fact, subscribe to my weekly newsletter that's called, you guessed it, Get Hired, to get even more information delivered to you every week. You can find those links in the show notes. And of course, don't forget to click that follow or subscribe button to get our podcast delivered to you every Wednesday because we'll be continuing these conversations on the next episode right here, wherever you like to listen.

Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. This episode was produced by Alexis Ramdaou. Grace Rubin is our associate producer. Assaf Gidron engineered our show. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Dave Pond is head of news production. Enrique Montalvo is our executive producer. Courtney Coupe is the head of original programming for LinkedIn. Dan Roth is the editor-in-chief of LinkedIn. And I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well and best of luck.